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PlanToys – Wooden Toys to Inspire and Delight

For forty years, PlanToys have sparked young children’s imaginations with toys that are beautiful, safe, sustainably made, and fun! From basic wooden blocks to a balance board, a building crane set and much more, these toys are created to inspire and to last.

In 1981, seven Thai university graduates had a shared vision to infuse the world with positivity. One of those students, Vitool Viraponsavan, did just that when he created PlanToys. He focused on child development and safety, and the environment. His company creates wooden toys for children that delight, inspire their imaginations, and assist in the growth of their cognitive and motor skills. He developed the company’s “Sustainable Way” which includes using sustainable materials and manufacturing along with a mindset to make continuous improvements.

PlanToys never cuts down a single tree to make their toys. They use reclaimed rubberwood from rubber trees that no longer produce latex and would normally be burned. Instead, the rubberwood is slowly dried to make it tough and safe for use by children. All the company’s toys exceed international safety standards including those of the United States and the European Union.  For the past 40 years, they have increased their use of sustainable natural resources, including solar energy, and work to create minimum to zero waste throughout their entire production process.

Working with child development specialists, they have designed toys for young children that spark physical and cognitive development as well as imaginative play and fun! Designed with a modern sensibility, these toys use elegant shapes, bright (safe!) colors and an occasional touch of humor to engage children and parents alike. We love toys here at Whole Earth, and these are a few of our favorites from PlanToys.

PlanToys Construction Set

This colorful 40 piece set includes building boards, large wooden screws and nuts, and the 2-in-1 wrench and screwdriver for tightening. The set can be used to construct all sorts of vehicles and other creations. Suggested for children three and up, the Construction Set helps to develop fine motor skills, coordination, logic and creativity.  The set also includes plans for an airplane and a racing car and suggested designs for a truck, crane, robot and spaceship.

PlanToys 50 Unit Blocks

Every young child should have a set of high quality wooden blocks. Why high quality? Kids take great pleasure building with blocks, especially in creating tall towers and balancing pieces one on the other. When the pieces are not well made, it can be extremely difficult for the blocks to balance yielding frustration rather than a sense of satisfaction. The 50 Unit Block set is well made and has a variety of block shapes and sizes that will spur creativity, fine motor skills and offer a hint of geometry to come.  

Plan Toys Vegetable Garden

Does your child have a doll house that needs a vegetable garden? PlanToys has just the thing! Their Vegetable Garden includes four “beds” with removable carrots, radishes, turnips and cauliflowers as well as tools - a wheelbarrow, a spade and a watering can. Your child can plant, tend and harvest veggies for the whole doll family. Need a doll house? PlanToys makes the modular Creative Play House that can be arranged any of ten ways (sorry, in store pickup only).

PlanToys Balance Board

For the child who has more energy than they know what to do with, direct some of that energy to balancing with the Balance Board. Suggested for children three and up, it’s a curved plywood board that can be used sitting or standing while gently rocking from side to side and maintaining balance. It also includes a rope with handles that can be threaded through the holes in the Board for added stability. Or it can be threaded through one hole and then the Board can be used as a sled on a carpeted surface. This toy helps to develop gross motor skills, coordination and concentration.

PlanToys Crane Set

Have a budding construction engineer in the family? The signs include building projects made in a variety of materials, a fleet of vehicles to deliver materials and builders in hardhats to carry on the work. The Crane set can pull all these various elements together to create a building site that kids will love. The crane can move materials vertically and horizontally using knobs as well as swing in a 360º circle. The set also includes a bucket, concrete mixer, wheelbarrow, construction signs and workers. Add a new dimension of imagination to your child’s building projects.

These are just a few of the PlanToys you’ll find in our stores and online. We think your kids will love them, and you may too!